Nearly a dozen Virginia National Guard Soldiers and civilians participate in a three-day Geospatial Information System training course Sept. 15, 2015, at Camp Pendleton, Va. GIS is a mapping-based, decision tool system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data. GIS can be used by the Virginia Guard for a variety of purposes, including emergency operations, range and training safety, and environmental compliance. (Photo by Master Sgt. A.J. Coyne, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)

GIS is a mapping-based, decision tool system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data, according to Tim Morris with the Fort Pickett range operations.

GIS can be used by the Virginia Guard for a variety of purposes, including emergency operations, range and training safety, and environmental compliance.

GIS is a mapping-based, decision tool system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data. GIS can be used by the Virginia Guard for a variety of purposes, including emergency operations, range and training safety, and environmental compliance. (Photo by Master Sgt. A.J. Coyne, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)

“In a nutshell, GIS is like Google maps we use on our cellphones as GPS,” said Staff Sgt. Reynaldo Abeng, the Range Facility Management Support System scheduler and coordinator at Camp Pendleton. “All the data are there, it’s just a matter of who needs a particular set of data for a particular kind of job.”

Although the class introduced students to GIS software, it also included field work based upon Camp Pendleton’s data.

At Camp Pendleton, GIS can assist with everything from budgeting to training, according to Abeng. It can help identify which facilities and ranges are occupied and which are free.

“Training schedules for the future can be predicted easier and it can help justify to other units why I cannot approve their request for such a time frame,” he said. “On the analyst side of the business, budget and cost analysis can easier be justified and projected.”

National Guard Bureau sponsored the regional training which could be the blueprint for other regional classes.

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